Answers

General

Q1: I have received admission in IITs. Why should I consider joining IIIT Hyderabad?Strengths of IIIT-H:
1. Undergrad Research: There are very less places in India where undergrads are so highly encouraged to publish research papers, so we see quite a lot of publications in international conferences(some even receiving the best paper award), thus if one wants to pursue a career in research in computer science, this is the place no lesser than the IITs(in terms of student strength and undergrads doing research). Some of the faculty are much renowned, so their letters of recommendation could take you to awesome places ( viz. a viz. CMU, UCSD, etc.)

2. Placements: IIIT Hyd has one of the best placements in the country. Why this is possible is because of a lot of factors, especially the college coding culture and the willingness to pursue awesome things. Couple it with the competition u face(the pursuit of excellence in each and everything that’s done)and you’re bound to see great results.

3. Coding Culture: In reference to the above itself, we have the highest no. of GSoC selections in the country year-after-year. Mix that with a team going to the ACM-ICPC World Finals almost every year and one does notice that this is a consequence of an awesome coding culture which happens to develop at a fairly early stage(as early as your first semester). Also, a high-speed internet connection does ensure one is always connected.

4. Less people, better relationships: Since the college intakes only ~ 250 UG students every year, you know almost every other person in the batch. This batch bonding goes a long way, and u get help from quarters which isn’t really possible when there are thousands of students who wouldn’t know u personally.

5. Better chances of leadership positions: Since the college strength is low, there are tons of opportunities that one gets for taking up positions of responsibility, and oh boy, I can testify that this indeed changed me. Personally, had I been at some other place, I would always have been the shy kid, IIIT helped me grow up, can’t deny that.

6. Undergrad TAships: People get TAships as early as their 3rd year of undergraduate, which I have been told is not possible at places like IIT-K and the like(they have it from their 4th year)

7. Proper structured coursework: As early as your first semester, you are introduced to Linux and open source software and encouraged to contribute to it, not to mention the programming assignments which help one practice a lot of core stuff that otherwise wouldn’t be possible at other places, atleast not that early.

8. No in-out timings: One can go out and come back from campus any time he/she wishes to. There is no curfew of any sort. You can even go home and come back as long as it does not affect your attendance.

Q5: Is branch change allowed?
Branch change is allowed between CSE and ECE after 1st year, subject to the condition that the total numbers in each branch are within 10% (plus or minus) of sanctioned strength.

Change from dual degree to 4 year degree is not permitted, the vice versa however, is possible.

Q6: IIIT fee is higher than the fee at IITs or NITs. Why?
IIIT offers high quality infrastructure. It has modern well-kept living facilities. It also has one of the highest bandwidth availability per student. It has a highly qualified research oriented faculty with research centres. All this costs money. Most importantly IIIT does not run on annual Government grants. This allows complete autonomy and high academic standards, but does result in a slightly higher fee. However, financial assistance is available.

(1) Many banks sanction educational loans with easy repayment terms after you graduate. Loan which might seem large at this point in time is actually very small when you start earning. Placement record shows that you can repay the loan very easily.

(2) There are merit-cum-means scholarships offered by the State Governments such as Pratibha Scholarship by the AP Government. These are available to IIIT students who come from AP and whose parent’s annual income is within one lakh. Check for similar scholarships with your own state Government or other similar sources.

Q9: Is there a hostel facility on campus? What about the other facilities?
Yes,IIIT-H is a residential Institute and it is compulsory for all students to stay on-campus. Separate hostels for boys and girls are available on-campus with basic facilities. Hostels are completely networked with Internet facility. UG1 students are not provided network facility in their hostel rooms. However, they have access to internet in common labs during day time.

Q10: How is Hyderabad climate?
Hyderabad has a pleasant salubrious climate. It is dry, so even when it is hot under the sun, it is pleasant under the shade. It has two hot months (April and May) and even in those months there is no loo (hot wind), and evenings become pleasant. As soon as the monsoons arrive (approximately 7th June) Hyderabad becomes like an “air conditioned” city and not hot and muggy like other cities. Winters are mild with temperature rarely going below 12 degrees Centigrade at night. (Hyderabad is at an altitude of 500m, its climate is different from rest of the Andhra climate)

Q11: What kind of city is Hyderabad? What does it have to offer?
Hyderabad is a large metropolis (5th largest city of India) with the old world charm. It is a favoured destination of software industry in India and a large cosmopolitan city with interesting eating places, shopping areas, theatres, visibly present film industries, etc. However, it retains a personal touch of a small town. People are helpful and laid back, and surprisingly autorickshaw drivers do not “take you for a ride” unnecessarily. Culturally it is active with heritage walks, monuments that invite you, painting exhibitions, Hindustani and Carnatic music.

Q12: Where is IIIT-H located in Hyderabad? What facilities are available in its vicinity?
IIIT is located in Gachibowli with a largely self contained campus. Most of your needs will be satisfied within the campus: hostel, mess, canteen, stationery shop, etc. There is a nearby market within a kilometre from campus where items of personal need are available. IIIT is about 15 km from centre of the city but well connected with buses and shared minitaxies (tempos). Gachibowli is a fast developing area where several new software companies including Infosys, Wipro, Microsoft and others, are building their campuses . As a result, many new facilities are coming up in the area.

Q16: Is there a Dual Degree Program for ECE students?
Yes, we have a Dual Degree Program named ECD (B.Tech and MS by Research in Electronics and Communication Engineering) for ECE students. It has the same characteristics as any Dual Degree Program in terms of requirements and objectives. More information can be found here.

Please ask your bank if amount is deducted from your credit card / debit card account. If amount is deducted, then the payment was successful. If you do not click anywhere on the screen while the bank website is redirecting to IIIT website after successful online payment, then you will see confirmation message on screen and you would also receive email with payment successful message. In case you have not received an email but the amount is deducted from your account, please send an email to ‘ugadmissions@iiit.ac.in’ with transaction ID, Bank account no., Date/Time of transaction, Transaction amount, your name, email address, etc. details. We will try to confirm within 7 working days whether we have received the payment.

If you have specified correct email address in application form for Phase-I, then you should receive email confirmation about registration. We also send confirmation to all applicants who have filled application Phase-I form through post.

Please check SPAM folder or bulk email folder for the confirmation email. Since such emails are generated automatically they very often go to SPAM or bulk mail folders. In case you can’t find the email and the amount got deducted from your debit/credit card account then please send an email to ugadmissions@iiit.ac.in with transaction ID, Bank account no., Date/Time of transaction, Transaction amount, your name, email address, etc. and we will reply to you within 7 working days.

No, we only consider JEE (Mains) marks for regular admissions. There is however, a provision for admissions based on Olympiads, NTSE or KVPY etc. Further, for students from Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities with Mathematics there are opportunities to pursue Dual Degree Computational Linguistics or Exact Humanities. Please read here for more information on admissions based on these criteria.

- There will be no internal sliding after you join the institute. For B.Tech/Dual degree programs in CSE and ECE, a branch change is possible according to institute rules after first year.

- For other dual degree programs in Computational Natural Sciences, Computational Linguistics, Exact Humanities, and Building Science & Engineering as they are special programs, no branch change is allowed. So you should opt for these programs only if you are really interested in them. Your opting for programs, without a serious intent to join them, deprives another candidate of the seat, since there would be no more rounds.

Dual degree research program is for more than 4 years. Students who would like to do research would generally prefer this program. However, some students whose first preference is 4 year program may also opt for dual degree program and get the seat. In further rounds, he/she may slide to 4-year program based on the vacancies which will create a vacant seat in dual degree program.

Yes, you can. If you are given another program previous seat allotment is cancelled and is made available for other candidates. If you are not allotted any of your choices, the existing allotment remains. So, unless you are really sure that you want another program do not opt for it, as you will not be able change it back to your existing allotment.

BSD (Civil) is a Dual Degree Civil Engineering program which aims at educating engineers and doing research to build an environmentally sustainable habitat by integrating building architecture, structural, geotechnical, environment, building materials, building services, construction management and habitat design using spatial informatics.The students gets two degrees upon completion of the course, i.e. B.Tech in Civil Engineering and MS by Research in Building Science and Engineering. For more information click here.

Through JEE (Main). Candidates with zeal to design buildings, structures, constructions etc and possessing strong potential in doing research in the related fields are expected to apply. For more information click here.

You may need to reconsider your choice in either case. Knowledge of both the fields would be essential for your research.
As mentioned in Q1, the proportion of both the courses is same. Keep that in mind. Go through this link about the curriculum followed. You will be studying all the courses mentioned in the curriculum.

This will not be a technical interview, as in you will not be tested on your ability in Computer science. There is no set guideline on how you should attempt the interview. A candid advice would be to keep your responses brutally honest and firm. You are expected to have minimum idea about the program, why you’d want to come here and such things.

All of us here faced these questions. No one knew what research they would do, if they would want to do research in the first place. It took us a while to understand what Exact humanities is, how research in Computer Science and Exact Humanities is cutting edge in the academic sphere today. By personal insight, It could be said that while coming to a place like IIIT-H where research is at the core of any academic side; one must keep a very open and flexible mind. Its alright if you don’t know what exactly would happen as long as you seem to show a non-trivial aptitude in the curriculum. The very fact you have been thought worthy by the interview panel to find a seat in the program is a very strong indication that you shall pull through the amazing work faculty could make happen with your effort. If you still have questions, please use the forum feature to ask about the issues which need clarification.

There are a total of 5 hostels – 3 boys and 2 girls hostels. MS and M.Tech people get accommodation in different hostels. MS people are provided with single occupancy while M.Tech people get 2 person shared rooms during the first year.
Yes, staying in campus is compulsory for all the full time students.

CSE ,VLSI, BioInfo: Prepare any 2-3 subjects, and project. If you were doing job after your bachelors, then prepare your answers about the projects you have done during job time. Keep your resume with you, mention your projects in your resume, take your project report with you if possible.

CASE : For the interview just brush up your basics for structural engineering , RCC and steel structure design but most importantly prepare your B.Tech project which you have done.

This will mostly depend upon your interview and the preference you gave while filling up the form. Also the seats for MS are less as compared so competition will be tough. You can further convert your M.Tech programme after an year to MS depending upon your performance in 1st year.

Flexible (Minimum: 3 semesters; Maximum: 6 semesters for regular and 8 semesters for part-time). Typical duration varies from 2 to 3 years, depends on the time a student takes to complete the project and thesis work assigned.